July 18, 1995 is one of the blackest dates in the history of cycling. On this day the Italian road racer Fabio Casartelli died. A 24-year-old athlete died from being hit by a concrete fence during the Tour de France stage. At the time of the accident, he rode without a helmet, which forced again, but to no avail, to raise the issue of their mandatory wearing during races.
Casartelli's amateur career has developed quite safely. In the early 1990s, he regularly won various races in Italy. In 1992, a native of Como managed to get into the country's Olympic team, which in those years was quite difficult - only three riders could represent one country, and not five, as it is today.
Casartelli was glad of the opportunity to go to Barcelona, since he was not a favorite at all. However, on the penultimate lap of the group race, the Italian managed to break away from the peloton with the famous Dutchman Eric Dekker and another “dark horse” Dainis Ozols from Latvia. At the finish line Casartelli was faster than both of them and won for Italy the first Olympic gold in 24 years in a road cycling race.
The following year, Casartelli became a professional and performed at the Giro d'Italia, and also proved to be a good finisher at the stages of the Swiss Tour. But the next season was unsuccessful for the Italian. He left the Tour de France after the first week and underwent knee surgery.
In 1995, the Italian joined the Motorola team and became a partner of Lance Armstrong. For success in the summer races he was again taken to the Tour de France. Casartelli planned to perform in France and immediately return home to take part in the baptism of his two-month-old son.
Two days before his death, the racer spoke on the phone with his mother, and she asked her son to wear a helmet during the competition. At that time, he was a mandatory element of equipment only in Belgium, the Netherlands and the USA, and in France and Italy, riders could do without head protection. It was believed that the helmet would sooner lead to sunstroke in hot weather than it would protect in the event of a fall. When in 1991 the International Cyclists Union tried to oblige riders to wear helmets, it only caused fierce resistance among professionals.
At the same time, Casartelli was accustomed to the standard helmet of the Motorola team, which he wore, especially on the slopes. However, on July 18, during the 15th stage of the Tour de France between Saint-Giron and Cotreux, the athlete was without a headgear. According to the media, there could be two reasons for this. The first is very hot weather. And the second, according to Motorola doctor Massimo Testa, was that there was a very long ascent and a very short descent on this track.
A tragic incident occurred on the descent from Mount Porte d'Aspe. One of the sections of the route consisted of a sharp left turn next to a cliff fenced with concrete blocks. Casartelli was riding in the middle of the peloton and was ready to turn, when suddenly several riders fell in front of him. There was a blockage, and several athletes flew into a solid fence on the edge of the abyss. Some injured limbs and torso. Casartelli hit his head.
Doctors rushed to the scene after a few seconds, but could not help the Olympic champion. He was immediately sent by helicopter to the nearest hospital, but he died on the way. Casartelli became the third rider to die during the Tour de France. Before him, in a fatal accident, the Spaniard Francisco Cepeda in 1935 and the Briton Tom Simpson in 1967.
The next day, in memory of the deceased, the peloton traveled the entire distance at a slow pace, and Motorola's comrades Casartelli were the first to cross the finish line. They handed over their prize money to a fund created to help the racer's family. Three days after the tragedy, Lance Armstrong won the 18th stage and dedicated it to his former partner.
The death of Casartelli forced the cycling world to re-raise the need to wear a helmet. However, this tragedy did not lead to the necessary changes. The head physician of the Tour de France Gerard Port assured that the helmet in any case would not have saved the Italian, since he received a blow below the back of his head.
Eight years passed before another death on the highway forced riders to wear helmets. On March 11, 2003, Kazakhstani driver Andrei Kivilev faced his rivals during the second stage of the Paris-Nice stage race and received fatal head injuries. After that, the UCI was already adamant and immediately ordered athletes to wear protective helmets during races.